38 online
 
Most Popular Choices
Share on Facebook 23 Printer Friendly Page More Sharing
Exclusive to OpEd News:
Life Arts    H3'ed 5/17/09

The Funny Side of Porn Censorship

By       (Page 1 of 3 pages)   19 comments
Follow Me on Twitter     Message Jason Paz

Egypt Court Bans Porn Sites
Marwa Rakha, Global Voices

Lawyer Nizar Ghorab (Ghorab translates to Crow in Arabic) filed a lawsuit calling for banning porn sites because they destroy the core values of the Egyptian society. The Administrative Court in Cairo ruled in his favor. Between anger and sarcasm, Egyptian bloggers react to the ruling.

Moftasa wrote:

There are ways to circumvent censorship and if people want to watch porn, and they do, they will resurrect VHS.

Not very thrilled with the decision Moftasa continues saying:

This ruling is like legalizing the monitoring of people's thoughts and controlling what they want to see. Perhaps tomorrow they will want to control what you think of too.

I understand that a court can make the production of pornographic material in Egypt illegal, which is currently the case, because of the possibility of abuse of minors and women through trafficking, etc..

Another problem is the blurry definition of "obscene sites" that is described in the ruling as sites that "destroy the values of the family and society that injects its poisons and spreads vice." I am sure that inclusion of political thought considered by the government as astray is next. Didn't this already happen?

In a post titled This page cannot be displayed, you naughty boy, Sarah Carr wrote:

The case was brought by a lawyer who clearly does not use Facebook and therefore has too much time on his hands. He is also clearly too concerned with what other people do with their time, and their hands. He raised a case demanding that the ministry of telecommunications ban 'obscene' websites, and the court found in his favour, goddamit.

Carr quoted an extract from the court's "pompous and stupid reasoning":

Rights and freedoms are not absolute, but rather limited by the [need to] protect the pure essence of the family which in its turn is the basis of society, and whose constituent elements are religion, morals and patriotism. The state and society are obligated to safeguard the nation's high level of religious upbringing, moral and patriotic values ... as well as public morals.

She then invites the reader to "Observe":

Porn – spreading depravity. Ban.
Pigs – spreading sausages. Destroy.
Hezbollah cell in Egypt – sending aid. Prosecute.
Caritas – spreading love. Stop.*
Emos – spreading black eyeliner. Arrest.

She concludes by saying:

I'm stating the obvious, but I'll say it anyway: a paranoid regime which exerts the majority of its energies on rabble rousing against an external threat(s) is trying to conceal its own inadequacies. Which is not to say that suspicion of the other does not exist in Egyptian society. It does. Ask an Egyptian Bahai. But as with xenophobia against immigrants in Western Europe, how much of this antipathy is attributable to deliberate misinformation, and poor education, and media which loves a sensation? Does what is ostensibly over zealous nationalism mask a deep insecurity, even a loss of identity?

Next Page  1  |  2  |  3

(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).

Funny 1  
Rate It | View Ratings

Jason Paz Social Media Pages: Facebook page url on login Profile not filled in       Twitter page url on login Profile not filled in       Linkedin page url on login Profile not filled in       Instagram page url on login Profile not filled in

Born a month before Pearl Harbor, I attended world events from an early age. My first words included Mussolini, Patton, Sahara and Patton. At age three I was a regular listener to Lowell Thomas. My mom was an industrial nurse a member of the (more...)
 
Go To Commenting
The views expressed herein are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of this website or its editors.
Follow Me on Twitter     Writers Guidelines

 
Contact EditorContact Editor
Support OpEdNews

OpEdNews depends upon can't survive without your help.

If you value this article and the work of OpEdNews, please either Donate or Purchase a premium membership.

STAY IN THE KNOW
If you've enjoyed this, sign up for our daily or weekly newsletter to get lots of great progressive content.
Daily Weekly     OpEd News Newsletter
Name
Email
   (Opens new browser window)
 

Most Popular Articles by this Author:     (View All Most Popular Articles by this Author)

Justice Delayed is Justice Denied

What if Sirhan Sirhan Had Missed?

Kathleen Cleaver on Human Rights

What Goes Around Comes Around Like Torture

Martin Luther King and Unjust Laws Today

To View Comments or Join the Conversation:

Tell A Friend